Rules
promulgated under the Defense of Indigents Act (Act No. 309) passed by the
General Assembly and approved by the Governor on June 17, 1969, were adopted by
this Court on January 1, 1970. By Order
of this Court dated September 20, 1972, the Rules were
amended and now read as follows:

(a) Every person arrested for the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of
the Court of General Sessions, every juvenile to be brought before any court on
any charge for which he may be imprisoned, and every person charged with the
violation of a probationary sentence shall be taken as soon as practicable
before the Clerk of the Court of General Sessions in the county where the
charges are preferred, or such other officer or officers as may be designated
by the resident judge of the circuit, for the purpose of securing to the
accused the right to counsel.

In cases
involving criminal charges within the jurisdiction of magistrates' courts,
municipal courts, or other courts with like jurisdiction, if a prison sentence
is likely to be imposed following any conviction, the presiding judge of the
court in which the matter is to be determined shall inform the accused as
provided in Rule 2 when the case is called for disposition. The procedures concerning juveniles, as
provided in Rule 1 and Rule 2 hereof, shall continue
to be followed.

(b) The officer before whom the arrested person is taken shall:

(1) Inform the accused of
the charges against him and of the nature of the charges.

(2) Advise the accused of
his right to counsel and of his right to the appointment of counsel by the
court, if the accused is financially unable to employ counsel.

(3) If the accused
represents that he is financially unable to employ counsel, take his application
for the appointment of counsel or for the services of the Public Defender where
the latter is available in the county.

Upon examination of a completed Affidavit of Indigency
(Form II), the officer designated to make a determination of indigency shall
determine if the accused is indigent. If
that officer is unable to make this determination, the final determination
whether the accused is indigent shall be made by a judge of the court in which
the matter is to be heard.

For purposes
of this rule, a person is indigent if that person is financially unable to
employ counsel. In making a
determination whether a person is indigent, all
factors concerning the person’s financial condition should be considered
including income, debts, assets and family situation. A presumption that the person is indigent
shall be created if the person’s net family income is less than or equal to the
Poverty Guidelines established and revised annually by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services and published in the Federal
Register. Net income shall mean gross
income minus deductions required by law.

(c) If application for counsel is approved for the accused, the Clerk of Court or
other officer shall immediately notify the Office of Public Defender, if one
exists in the county, and the Public Defender shall immediately thereafter
enter upon the representation of the accused. If there is no Public Defender for the county, then the Clerk of Court or
other officer shall immediately notify the court, or such person as the
resident judge may designate, of the request for counsel and appointment of
counsel shall be made immediately with prompt notification thereof to the
accused and counsel so appointed.

The initial
designation of the Public Defender of appointment of counsel to represent an
accused shall be subject to review by the court if it subsequently appears that
the accused is in fact financially able to employ counsel, has obtained counsel
of his own, or for other good cause shown.

If counsel
shall have been retained and partially paid for his services in either the
trial or appeal stages, no reimbursement may be had from indigent funds. However, upon the completion of the trial
stage, the defendant may be brought before the designated officer of the county
for the purpose of a redetermination of indigency. Upon a finding of indigency, and upon the
appointment of counsel, the fees and costs of representation may be had from
indigent funds as prescribed in these rules.

(d) The appointment of private counsel pursuant to Section V of the Act shall be
made or confirmed in a written order, showing the date and time of the
appointment; which shall be filed with the Clerk of Court, with copies thereof
provided to the accused and to the appointed counsel. Where representation is by a Public Defender,
he shall file with the Clerk of Court a written certificate setting forth the
date and time at which he undertook such representation, and shall keep and
report the hours in court and hours out of court and extraordinary expenses
incurred applicable to each case for which representation is made.

(e)(1) Trial counsel,
whether retained, appointed, or Public Defender, shall continue representation
of an accused until final judgment, including any proceeding on direct appeal,
except as hereinafter provided.

(2) During the trial stage,
trial counsel may be relieved only for good cause upon written petition to and
by written order of the trial judge. In
all cases where relief from representation is sought by trial counsel, a copy
of the petition shall be served on the accused and the prosecuting
attorney. The Public Defender also shall
be served when relief is sought by retained or appointed counsel. If trial counsel is relieved for good cause, the
trial court shall immediately appoint substitute counsel.

(3) After conviction of an
accused who has been represented by appointed counsel
or Public Defender, the Office of Appellate Defense shall represent the accused
until final judgment. After serving and
filing a Notice of Appeal for an accused who desires to appeal, appointed
counsel and Public Defenders shall be automatically relieved as appellate
counsel for the accused, without obtaining leave to withdraw as provided in
Rule 264, SCACR. However, the Public
Defender or appointed counsel shall assist in representing the accused in any
manner necessary to properly perfect the appeal or as otherwise requested by
the Office of Appellate Defense.

(4) When an accused who
desires to appeal claims to be indigent at the conclusion of the trial, his
retained counsel must first serve and file a Notice of Appeal as required by
Rule 203, SCACR. The accused shall then
request a determination of his indigency status from the Office of Appellate
Defense. If the Office of Appellate
Defense determines that the accused is not indigent, retained counsel shall
continue representation of the accused during the appeal, unless granted leave
to withdraw under Rule 264, SCACR.

If the Office of Appellate Defense determines that
the accused is indigent, it will represent the accused until final judgment,
including any proceeding on direct appeal, without retained trial counsel's
obtaining leave to withdraw under Rule 264, SCACR. However, retained counsel shall assist in
representing the accused in any manner necessary to properly establish the
indigency of the accused and properly perfect the appeal, including but not
limited to obtaining an affidavit of indigency from the accused, obtaining a
Court Order declaring the accused's indigency from either the trial judge or
the Chief Administrative Judge of the Circuit, and in any other manner
requested by the Office of Appellate Defense.

(f) Where a Defender Corporation is established in a county and representation of a
defendant is by an attorney other than the Public Defender, no claim for
reimbursement of such appointed counsel shall be submitted to the State
Treasurer, but he shall be paid out of other available funds.

(g) (1) The application for counsel fees and/or expenses under the terms of this Act shall
be made on such forms as prescribed and furnished by the South Carolina Court
Administration. Vouchers for fees or
expenses should be submitted upon the completion of each stage of
representation, trial and appeal stages, respectively. No voucher for fees or expenses except where
specifically permitted by written order of the court shall be submitted prior
to the completion of a state of representation.

After the completion of services in a state of
representation, appointed counsel or public defenders must submit their voucher
for fees and/or expenses within thirty (30) days after such completion to the
Clerk of Court of the county in which the services were performed.

(2) Vouchers submitted for
fees must show with specificity the hours of in-court and out-of-court time,
with an explanation as to the nature of each entry.

Necessary
expenses which must be approved by the trial judge by written order, prior to
their being incurred, are fees of expert witnesses, costs of scientific tests
or exhibits for trial demonstration, costs of psychiatric examinations, and
extraordinary travel expenses. The cost
of long distance telephone calls should be submitted on the voucher. No other expenses may be submitted for reimbursement
from the fund. All claims for expense
against the defense fund must be shown on the voucher and must be accompanied
by an original or copy of the bills documenting such claim.

Appointed
counsel or public defenders involved in representation of defendants against
whom the death penalty is sought are subject to the provisions of these Rules
of the Defense of Indigents Act except as contravened by the special provisions
of Act 555 of 1978.

(3) The court reporter's fee
for providing the transcript of the trial proceeding may be reimbursed only
after direct submission, by the court reporter, of a letter of transmittal
showing the case name and number, the nature of the proceeding, the reporter's
name, address, and social security number, a copy of the written request for
transcript, a copy of the order of appointment of the requesting party as
counsel and a completed court reporter's bill (Form SCCA DI-4). The providing of transcripts and billing
rates are to conform to the guidelines set out in Rule 508, SCACR, and are
applicable to state court reporters as well as independent court reporters.

Only
the cost of one original or one copy of any transcript per defendant,
regardless of the number of counsel, may be reimbursed out of the defense fund.

(4) After April 15, 1978, no
local reproduction or printing of a transcript or brief for the purpose of an
appeal may be reimbursed out of the defense fund. For the purpose of appeal, the transcript and
brief should be prepared for reproduction, and forwarded to the Clerk of the
Supreme Court. Such papers should be
accompanied by a letter of transmittal showing the attorney's name, a return
address, a copy of the order of appointment of that attorney as counsel and a
copy of the Notice of Appeal.

Upon approval of the papers as submitted, printing,
filing and service as required by South Carolina Appellate Court Rules will be
administratively accomplished, with a copy returned to the attorney submitting
the papers. Any appeal papers not in
compliance with South Carolina Appellate Court Rules may be returned for
revision.

(5) In cases in which the
death penalty is sought, one original of the trial proceeding should be
prepared immediately by the court reporter and submitted to the Clerk of the
Supreme Court for the purpose of the automatic review by the Supreme
Court. Upon such provision to the Clerk,
copies of the transcript will be provided to defendant's counsel and no
original or copy of a transcript in a case in which the death penalty is
sought, otherwise provided to appointed counsel or a public defender by a court reporter, may be paid for out of the defense fund.

(6) In any trial or appeal
in which an indigent defendant intends to represent himself, no expenses
related to his representation may be paid from the defense fund without his
having first appeared before the court, or such designated officer, for the
purpose of a determination of indigency and his having obtained a written order
of the court finding that defendant competent to represent himself.

Where an indigent defendant represents himself, after first obtaining leave of court, expenses of
representation at trial or appeal must be submitted to Court Administration in
conformity with these Rules and the Defense of Indigents Act except that any
vouchers or court reporter's bills submitted must be accompanied by written
evidence of defendant's compliance with this Rule. In any trial or appeal wherein representation
is by the defendant himself, no fees of counsel may be allowed.

In post-conviction relief matters, expenses related to
representation and fees of appointed counsel may be paid where permitted and as
prescribed in these Rules and the Defense of Indigents Act. No defendant representing himself in a
post-conviction relief matter may receive fees for representation but may be
reimbursed for expenses allowed by these rules and statutes.

(h) In any case in which more than one attorney is appointed to represent a
defendant, the combined fees paid to such attorneys shall not exceed the
maximum amounts as provided by statute relating to indigent representation.

In all
cases of multiple appointed counsel for single
defendants, no single defendant is entitled to have the cost of more than one
original or one copy of any transcript paid for from the defense fund
regardless of the number of counsel.

In cases
involving several defendants represented by appointed counsel who are tried
together and who intend to appeal jointly, arrangements should be made, where
possible, to share the transcripts between defendants and attorneys.

In any case
in which a defendant represented by appointed counsel and a defendant
represented by retained counsel intend to appeal jointly, the procedures for
the provision of transcripts and printing, and the payment of the costs
thereof, shall be pursuant to these Rules and the Defense of Indigents
Act. The Office of Court Administration
shall thereafter apportion an estimated amount of that cost and shall be
reimbursed by the defendant who had retained counsel.

(i) The forms in Appendix A of
Part VI shall be furnished by the Clerk of the Supreme Court to the office of
the Clerk of Court in each county for use in administering the provisions of
the Act as implemented by these Rules.

Amended by Order dated January 29, 2009,
effective April 29, 2009, by Order of the same date.